Jedi's On a Budget
by Ludex Gray
Summary: Masterless Force sensitives form a small ragtag group in an attempt to thwart the empire.
1. Chapter 1

God I hate being poor. You know when I was little I always dreamed of one day becoming a master Jedi. The Jedi were heroes during the Clone Wars, they could take on entire droid armies with a single light saber. They would charge into battle and deflect lasers, slice through speeders, and cut through walls. The combined might of the republics clone army looked borderline pathetic compared to the strength of the Jedi council. Unstoppable, that's the word I'm looking for. These great warriors could use the force, a metaphysical magic of sorts that could be manipulated to the users will. The force with its opposing sides of dark and light had always seemed like this mysterious omnipotent power that only a truly powerful being could wield.

The trouble with omnipotent powers that you read about in books is that it doesn't always work out exactly the way you want it to.

My name is Gray and I am Jedi, sort of. I don't actually know how one would obtain the title or anything like that, I just know how to use the force. Well I can use the force, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that I'm good at it or anything. I've never had any formal training, and ever since the clone wars ended there hasn't exactly been a lot of Jedi masters floating around. I've learned everything I know about using the force from various books and a couple stolen holograms. Yet for some reason I'm just not that great at using it. I have a lot of trouble with the levitating of objects and moving stuff, and doing those power jump things, I'm also not that great at fighting. Despite my extreme lack of every basic Jedi skill I do have one thing going for me. Not to toot my own horn or anything but I am absolutely stellar when it comes to mind control. Yes mind control, not exactly the most impressive thing that Jedi can do, but I have to say it comes in handy.

In case you are not already aware, if you have the force you are either killed immediately or turned to the dark side. Luckily I have not been caught doing anything that I couldn't talk my way out of. Though that might just be my mind control abilities now that I think about it. I call it mind control instead of a "Jedi mind trick" because I can go a bit deeper than that. The mind trick is a simple hand wave that makes people forget recent events, however I do it a bit differently. I started out with the simple hand wave, but I realized that it's the hands movement that makes it effective. So I experimented a little and learned all these weird kind of hand movements and other ways to manipulate the force. It got to the point that I could do the mind tricks without using a hand, though the gestures are needed for more involved things. I have spent a lot of time on the mind control bits since it's the only thing that I've made any real progress in. I started with a little haggling, now I could probably make storm trooper piss himself if I wanted.

I can usually take care of myself, the only issue I have is droids. Droids don't fall victim to mind control, and this makes me an easy target. Without a mind to control, I'm pretty much useless. I'm usually able to change the mind of droid owners and slip away from potentially dangerous encounters with the empire. This however, is not the way I want to live my life. The empire is basically a bunch of jerk wads who take things that don't belong to them. While I'm not exactly known for my high moral streak or anything I don't think anyone really needs any more of an excuse to hate the empire.

Now my back story isn't really that tragic, but some of this stuff should be cleared up. My father died when I was young, not killed by the empire or anything cliche like that, just a freak wagon accident. I didn't really get to know him to well since I was little when he passed, my mother however, that's a completely different story. My mom practically raised me on her own, she was a hard worker and a medic for the city we lived in. We were never rich but we always managed to pull through. She didn't know about my Jedi-ness but I always meant to tell her one day. All she ever wanted to do was help people, and I respected her for that. She joined the rebel alliance one day and I left home after that. As much as I wanted to stay and support her, I just couldn't take the risk of being a Jedi who was the daughter of a rebel. The connection would've been all too obvious and she would be in much danger as I was if the empire ever found out. She never knew where I went and I did a pretty bad job at keeping in touch. I send her a letter once in a while and I always include whatever credits I can spare, but unfortunately I have no way to receive correspondence so I don't even know if she is alive anymore. For her sake, and mine, I hope she is far far away. Knowing her she is out there somewhere, saving the galaxy. If I play my cards right, hopefully I can help out with that.

What I need to is become a proper Jedi. I've heard a lot about the Rebel Alliance lately, and how they are trying to make things go back to the way they were, trying to restore the old republic. This is what ordinary people, like my mother are doing. I'm grateful that there are still people out there who want to fight, people who are still willing to do the right thing. I however am a Jedi, and if I know anything about the force it's how to trust it. I was drawn to a book once, I got the store owner to fall asleep with a little mind magic, and I slipped the book off the shelf. I flipped to a certain page and was immediately entranced by its content. "The Holy Order of the Jedi Knights" was the title of the book. I read what I felt was right then flipped to another page. The symbol was stunning. It was the first time I had ever seen it, the emblem of the Jedi order. A simple line with a star in the middle, wings that proudly surrounded the design. I stole some paper from a nearby shelf and carefully traced the image. I would never hurt a book, there was no way I would be able to rip out the page. I carefully replaced the book in its rightful spot and roused the shop owner as I raced out the door. I later learned what the image depicted, not a stick with a star, but a light saber.

The Jedi order, it still seems like a dream. I am now determined to become a real Jedi, then I will start up the Jedi order once again. The greatness and power of that symbol still moves me, what it represents means even more. Users of the light side of the force, they both kept the peace and fought valiantly. I continue to learn about the hierarchy of the Order, however in these more desperate times I don't think anyone would mind if I bent just a few of the rules. Based on my current age I wouldn't really be considered a youngling anymore. Being more teenage in years it would be safer to go with the title Padawan. I think it would be pretentious to call myself a Jedi knight or master when I can barely use the force. So until I create my own light saber and find a way to go through some kind of Jedi trial thing, I'll consider myself a Padawan. Since I'm not really in training my master for now will be the force, and because I already have complete faith in it I know it will be the best teacher for me. I took a strand of hair from my ponytail and weaved it into the signature braid of a Padawan, I tucked it behind my right ear and committed myself to a new hope.

I know that the tradition is for a Jedi in training to build their own light saber, but since I am nowhere near any magic light saber crystal cave planets I might have to improvise. If I bought a light saber then I could just take the crystal out and make the rest from scratch. Only problem is that I am really freaking poor and let's face it, light sabers are expensive. The only place I've found that actually sells light sabers is at the black market, and those are the stupid red ones. I want to be a Jedi not some Sith empire scumbag. Those guys are upright jerks and there is no way I'm going to associate with a bunch losers like them. I want to recreate the Jedi order, there is no way anyone will take me seriously if I'm wielding the synthesized red crystal light sabers of the empire. For now I will survive the way I have been since I left home, defenseless, penniless, but with a dream.


	2. Chapter 2

I have no idea what planet I am on. I'm beginning to notice that this kind of thing happens a lot to me. Every once in a while I get on a random cargo ship and stow away, I sometimes do this just for a change of scenery. Not exactly the smartest way to stay alive but it gets me to new places and it has taught me a lot about how the galaxy works. Now I know where most of the major rebel bases are, along with some of the empire's strongholds. Even without the geography, or I guess interplanetary geography lessons, it's been a good way to get to know people. I feel like these last few little trips were not entirely by chance, I suppose I should explain.

About a week ago I was meandering around thinking of a way to get my next meal when I had a weird feeling. For some reason I instinctively began to reach for my freshly tied padawan braid, but before I grabbed it I felt something strange. I started to, I don't want to say hear, but I kind of felt this weird buzzing. At first I thought it was sickness or hunger, both pretty common feelings to me by now. Once my hand gripped my braid it became stronger. It was completely different now, I could feel it reverberating through my bones. It was no longer an indistinct buzzing, but rather a strong, not mechanical but biological humming. It sounded like a plant growing, like life itself. My vision was clouded with abstract images that meant both nothing, yet everything. I smelt the weirdest mixture of aromas, and I tasted the most amazing and most horrible things at once. I felt empowered as I listened to it, as I felt it, it was the most brilliant feeling. Then out of nowhere a thought popped into my mind, I should get on a ship, it seemed to tell me. I got a mental image of a transport ship and then everything stopped. I let go of the braid and then I was back in the middle of a random street that I must have wandered onto before the buzzing started. Before it started. I could still hear it, it doesn't have a tune or a rhythm yet it still manages to be heard, that incessant hum. I thought after a while it would wear off, perhaps I would go talk someone into getting me a decent lunch and when I was full it would disappear. It didn't. I thought maybe it was sleep deprivation so I conked out among some crates near a loading dock. The humming didn't even stop for my dreams, I felt it through the night as it plagued an equal balance of my dreams and nightmares. I woke a little shaky because the humming had intensified, and to my horror I looked up and saw the transport ship from my strange vision. I realized then what I was hearing, what I felt was the force. That unconquerable power, the duality of the light and darkness, it was unmistakable. The idea that the force is black and white makes my name, with horrible irony, seem fitting.

Gray, a color made by the mixture of black and white, the middle ground. As far as I can tell, from every source of knowledge available to me, there have been no accounts of Jedi being able to communicate with the force. Sure there have been visions and helpful hints, but never a full blown sound or easy way of communication. From what I know of the force it is essentially the energy of all living things. So why can I hear it? No one else has ever heard it, no one at least who has reported it. Maybe it's just something all Jedi can do, I can see why they wouldn't want to tell anybody, people would think they were loony. I wouldn't be so worried about it if it would just stop for a single second! I'm going to go mad pretty soon. Why doesn't it end!

Despite the irritating, yet somehow soothing hum of the force, I am able to sleep and eat and ride the random transports that the force seems to be leading me towards. This has been going on for a while and I have slowly fallen into a sort of rhythm. So last night I got in a bit of a scuffle trying to get on my destined ship, I used a couple mind tricks and got everything under control, nothing I couldn't handle. The difference this time was that the humming seemed to get quieter, almost as if it was satisfied. The way I had done the mind tricks had felt so much easier, it almost felt natural. This quieter buzzing sound wasn't nearly as hard to bear, in fact it was kind of peaceful. I grabbed my braid and it instantly got louder and I had the sense that if I wanted to I could see the images again. For some reason, rather than being scared of that hum I all of the sudden felt reassured by it. It's like the force was trusting me, by letting me sense it I was somehow let in on a secret, something that allowed me to feel the very nature of the entire universe. I let my braided strand of hair down and for the first time in what seemed like forever, I relaxed.

The humming is becoming clearer. Earlier this morning it woke me up, the little buzzing sound, it led me to a large market. Here I can see all kinds of things going on, deals being made, items sold, food cooking, insects buzzing. Since when have I been able to detect a single insect in the middle of a crowd? I hear the telltale hum and decide that it must be the force, there is nothing else it could really be, and who am I to question the very thing I declared as my master?

"GET BACK HERE!" I hear this yell extremely clearly even though I know it has to be coming from at least across the square. There is a short old man yelling something about some stolen cookies. Even though I'm able to hear every word he's saying I tune out the rest of his words when I see who he's yelling at, I immediately understand why I was led here. Standing in front of him is a tall muscular women dressed in ill-fitting armor. Her hair is bright shade of pink, but there is no doubt in my mind that she is human. She has her mouth crammed with what must be a dozen cookies and is giving the man a supercilious look. Strapped to her belt is a wicked looking ax, a weapon that looks like it was never intended to be used on trees. Cleave heads maybe, but not trees.

I know why I'm here now, I must be here to save that man. For whatever reason he is important and I have got to get him to safety. I make my way across the square stealthily and I watch and listen as the man yells at the girl, up close she looks about the same age as me, while she lazily stares off into the distance. She obviously could care less about what the baker thinks of her. As I begin my approach the force seems to buzz at me, I slow down a bit and decide to wait a little bit and see if anything happens. Despite the girls demeanor of nonchalance about the situation I can tell that she doesn't carry that ax around for show, she knows how to use it as the deadly weapon it was always meant to be. If she needs to use it, she will not hesitate, this much I can tell from all the little buzzes the force is showing me. These buzzes however are also telling me that she is not the enemy here.

A scrawny younger man who looks just like the baker, only skinnier, makes his way towards the back of the stall. He comes around the back corner wielding two bread knives and is about to attack the girl from behind when she does something completely unexpected. Without even turning her head she whips her arm up behind her, makes a small hand gesture and the knives fly out of the boys hand straight into the post by the bakers head. The son lets out a startled gasp and the baker screams, the girl turns around finished with her stolen cookies and begins to leave. However she won't be let off that easy.

I stand there dumbfounded by what I have just seen. Another Jedi, there are still other Jedi in the galaxy! She's obviously not old enough to be a Jedi master, but that doesn't matter. The humming grows a bit louder. I turn to look back at the bakery and see several storm troopers, they begin to run off in the girl's direction and I know trouble is brewing.

The girl hears the troopers approach and turns around quickly ready to fight. In a split second her ax is in her hand and she is doing masterful jumps that could only be accomplished by use of the force. She dodges each shot and I don't think she will be hurt any time soon but when the hum intensifies I know I have to help her before more soldiers get here. I have been following at a safe distance, but no longer. I step out of the crowd of those fleeing the market place. I stand in the middle of the battle and for one glorious moment I think about how weak I look, and about how much stronger I truly am. I surprised everyone by jumping into the middle of the fight, the storm troopers stop blasting and the girl gives me a quizzical look. I turn to face the troopers and they all gawk at me, no doubt wondering why I would step into a fight. I guess I don't look like the fighting type, also my lack of a weapon probably makes me seem less threatening. They look at me and I wave my hands in an awkward gesture.

"Sleep," it is only in a whisper that I utter the word, but the effect is instantaneous. Every trooper falls to the ground and a few helmets roll off. I look towards the girl and she smiles.

"Thanks for that, but I would really appreciate if you saved me a couple."

I stare at her incredulously. I look at her up and down, everything about her screams rebel fighter. From her poorly fitted armor to her free flowing vivid pink hair.

"Are you a rebel?" I had to ask, but I fear that may have been the wrong thing to say.

"Not for the alliance, my parents were though." Were. She used the past tense.

"Who are you then? What do you mean not for the alliance? You can't be fighting for no reason." I have to know what she's fighting for, because all of the sudden the hum of the force calms down.

"I'm Pinky, the hair makes it pretty easy to remember. And I am fighting for a reason. I want to rebel against the empire, just not with the alliance. I tried working with the alliance once, but they were too strict, so I left. I wanted to fight harder than the alliance would ever let me, I guess I'm too rebel to be a rebel." Her words are honest and sincere. A true fighter to the core, she will make an excellent Jedi someday. When that day comes I hope I will be by her side.

"Well if you really are 'Too rebel to be a rebel' than I guess we will have to try something new. If you really want to stick it to the empire I suggest helping me out. My name is Gray and I think if you join me, and a couple others do as well, we should be able to bring back the Jedi Order and take out the empire once and for all."

I tell her this and I pull out the piece of paper with the emblem on it. She looks at it for a moment, entranced as I was by all it stood for. She reaches out and we shake hands, as I look into her eyes I see the ambition she has, the strength she wields. I fell the steady reassuring hum of the force and I know I have gained a powerful ally.


	3. Chapter 3

After the little skirmish with storm troopers my new ally decided that it would be in our best interests to leave the market square and find some where to lie low for a little while. This seemed a wise decision on her part, however she doesn't really make a habit of these kind of choices. Not to be rude or anything but usually when you think of a Jedi you think of someone who is both wise and strong, not one or the other. Then again I should probably cut her some slack, I'm nowhere near what someone would mistake for strong. In fact I'm really weak, without the force I probably couldn't fend off an orphan turned mugger. Pinky on the other hand is a skilled fighter and is probably street wise, but her intellect is a little lacking. Together we form about an equal amount of strength and intelligence. Maybe this looks like a great combo from the outside looking in, the whole equal balance thing, but from here it seems more annoying than anything.

Immediately after the battle we left the square and are now residing in some house nearby. At first I thought we were just hiding out, but when I felt the force give me a little jolt I looked around more carefully. A simple mat lay on the floor with blankets strewn around it, a table with empty bowls and dusty silverware, and a small pack thrown together lay haphazardly under a weapons rack. So this is where she lived. Pinky and I appear to be in the same boat financially as evidenced by the table arrangements and living quarters. I'm guessing that since her parents are dead she must be alone now, there is no evidence of any others living here. I wonder how long she's been here, but looking at the packed bag and weapons that line an entire wall I can tell that it's been a while. As I peruse around my new friend's home she looks me up and down and by the look on her face I can tell she is sizing me up, she doesn't seem pleased.

"Have you ever been in a real fight?" The first thing she says to me after the skirmish, though to be honest I'm not really that surprised.

"You mean without the force?" I ask and she nods her head, her pink hair swishing in and out of place.

"Then no," I decided to answer honestly because there is no way she would accept any other answer.

I look at myself in the old and dusty window pane, and I try to think of the judgments she has already made about me. I'm human, a little bit taller than her, but I look extremely weak. My dark brownish black hair is tied in its usual way, a ponytail and now a padawan braid sticking out from behind my right ear. My complexion a little darker than her fair one. Pinky is a well built fighter with clearly defined muscles, I'm happy when I turn around and see a neck muscle move. However there is one feature that we share, malnutrition. You can tell the lack of food by looking at either of us, less noticeably on Pinky though. I have a feeling that she's a bit more willing to steal food than I am. The biggest differences between us however is our clothing. As I mentioned beforehand, she wears armor. Basically all she has is a chest plate, some arm guards, combat boots, and the utility belt holding her ax. All much too big for her and coated in different versions of her signature color, pink. They are obviously stolen storm troopers battle armor, I have a feeling that she draws more attention to herself than is necessary by wearing things like that. Though I'm not about to complain, I don't really want to invoke the wrath of Pinky. Standing next to her in my worn blue tunic with tannish under clothing and a pair of self-made boots, I seem like an innocent bystander.

"Do you think we will be safe here?" I see her staring out the window and ask, the shadows are longer now. I went to the market at an afternoon like time, but then again it's hard to tell since each planet has its own way of telling time.

"No, the troopers are making rounds, we have to leave." Pinky's face is set and I can tell by the forces telltale buzzing that danger approaches.

"I hate to ask this, but is this the first time you will have left home?" She turns from the window and stares blankly at me, I know the answer from the steady humming that comes from everywhere but I want to hear her say it.

"Yeah, I've always wanted to leave but I could never do it. I cleaned out my entire house for money and I packed a bag, I wanted to get out of here and go fight the empire, but I never did. Something is keeping me here, at first I just thought it was because of my family. My parents died on some rebel mission a couple years ago along with my sister." Her face betrayed her feelings but her eyes were dry, she had made peace with the news long ago. The hum of the force droned on.

"My dad died when I was little and I left home as soon as my mom joined the rebels. I don't know if she is alive, but I have hope that she is. I didn't have it as bad so I don't know how you deal with something like that." My backstory seemed pathetic compared to hers, but I'm not about to delve into the whole 'I know how you feel" speech. By the steady rise in volume of the force I know it helped.

She continued "That wasn't it though, my dead family wasn't keeping me from going anywhere, in fact they were the ones that got me all fired up in the first place. I think what kept me here was this feeling that I got whenever I tried to leave, the force." Pinky's felt the force! I feel the force more clearly as I stroke my braid. It gets louder but when I let go it doesn't quiet down.

"Only when you tried to leave? That's it!" I started, she doesn't hear it all the time. It really is just me, no one, not even other Jedi feel the force constantly. The buzzing that's started is driving me a little mad.

"Yeah… Have you heard it before?" She gives me a bewildered look.

I laugh incredulously right in her face. "Heard it before?! I haven't stopped hearing it!"

Pinky looked at me like I was some wackjob she had just met on the street, which I suppose I am.

"I hear it all the time" I explained. She looked worriedly at me. I feel the humming grow louder.

"Do you hear voices inside your head?" Yet another point for her intelligence.

"Considering we have both heard the force before maybe you should understand" I was getting really sick of this conversation, all the while the buzzing got louder.

"All right then. Well we better go. Get your stuff." She rolled up the mat and blankets and looked through her pack.

"I don't have anything to pack" I said. Pinky gave me an uncomprehending look. She looked at me and seemed a little startled at my lack of things. I looked down at myself, I had my clothes. Nothing else. It struck me then just how odd this was. I travel a lot, sure, but even then I should have something. I don't carry a pack or extra clothes, I just wash what I have on when I need to. I don't have any money or valuables, if I did they would have been traded for food by now. I couldn't afford any technology, if light sabers are out of my budget than holograms are even more so.

"Well here" she gestured to the weapons rack. "I've been stock piling weapons just in case, take something. You really should have something to defend yourself with, or at least something to hold onto." I looked at the stolen goods and found myself despising them. Mostly trooper guns and a few clubs and swords, probably from some aliens passing through. I know she must have defeated every single one of the weapons owners in order to obtain them.

"I don't really know how to use any of these things." I tried to reason with her, but she gave me this furious stare and I turned back to the rack.

In the meantime Pinky was over by the table arming herself to the teeth. She had knives sticking out of her boots and under her armor. She also pulled out her ax. It wasn't just any ax, it was a vibro-ax, a weapon often used by Jedi who were without a light saber. A vibro-ax can vibrate using power cells to give it more cutting power, when she used it before it wasn't turned on. I wonder if she uses it as a last resort kind of thing. Since t's restricted on most planets, I wonder how she got it. The only place she could get one is the black market, and those guys would outnumber her in a fight. She must have paid for it with the credits she earned selling off the things in her house, a whole 500 credits. As I watch her arm herself and put on a number of different holsters for blasters I think about how different we are.

I look again at the weapons again and I think about what each weapon says about its user. Every light saber is different, but they share similar traits. Blue ones belong to those who are fighting inclined, green to those who are more peaceful. Swords belong to fighters, axes to the brutes mostly, knives are pretty universal. I classify these weapons and try to find one type I would use, something I would be compatible with. The bow and arrow is a ranged weapon and is used by the swift and quick thinking, the club is yet another brutish weapon. I am about to take the bow and try my luck when I see something else on the rack. Next to a sword I had mistaken the long rod for an ax handle. I pulled out the tall bo staff and I twirled it around once. It hummed in perfect harmony with me, the force had accepted my choice of a weapon.

"The stick?" Pinky was done packing and had her back loaded down with her pack full of things. She also carried the bed roll under one arm. Way too much, but I decided to stay quiet about it, she'd learn soon enough.

"It's a staff actually." I twirled it a bit and demonstrated that I could use it, the force showing me the way.

"Well if you can use it I guess that's fine, now let's get going before"-The force strengthened and hummed loudly. I felt my bones throbbing with it and I dropped to the ground covering my ears. The steady progression of volume should have been my first clue, but I had been too busy earlier to catch on. Pinky bent down to check on me, clearly startled by the fact that I dropped like a dead weight and conked my head on the table. Then we heard the sound. It was louder than the force's overzealous warning and managed to get through my new table induced headache. I heard the nightmarish noise with perfect clarity. Outside on the streets we both could hear the unmistakable sound of a droideka roll.


	4. Chapter 4

Pinky went quickly to the window, she stood there stricken by what she saw. I stumbled over to the window, the buzzing of the force quickly overpowering any injury suffered from the headache. It was late afternoon outside and the bright sun was slowly sinking into the horizon, however that wasn't the most potent light that could be seen. The droidekas had stopped their rolling, they braced their wheel like bodies with a metal clang as their feet dropped. Back armor unraveled from the covered chassis. The head raised and the eyes began to glow a bright red as the gun arms popped out from the droids torso. Citizens attempted to run and get away from them, but troopers stopped them with blasters. The troopers went door to door looking for someone, probably me and Pinky. Then I saw a familiar shape among the empire scum. A short fat man and a scrawny younger version of his tagging along. It was the baker and his son from the market square earlier that day, they described our appearance to the troopers. I don't know how I learned this, but I know that it was them who told on us and all of the sudden I'm furious.

"Pinky, it's the baker and his son! He told them what we looked like and everything!" The buzzing, that's why I know. It has to be the force letting me know.

"Good, I really wanted to take out that guy anyway. He was a good cook, but he just kept yelling and yelling." She said it sarcastically, but I'm pretty sure she wouldn't hesitate to hack a few of his limbs off with that ax of hers.

"Well you did steal his food, but I honestly could care less. How do we get out of this one?" I look at her and am a little surprised to see my lack of remorse for Pinky's sudden display of sadism. She wants to kill the poor guy just because he was talking while she ate his cookies, shouldn't I be on his side if I'm the good guy? I've never had that great of morals or anything, but I never thought I was this bad. Maybe it's the force, I meant it satirically but when I thought about it made a lot of sense. The force is the equal balance of all things, there is a dark side and a light side, and also a lot of contempt. If the force is nature itself, it sure doesn't mind the fact that animals kill each other for food or that wars go on. I thought I was morally loose, but I guess my namesake will always haunt me on the subject. I'm too apathetic for a strict set of morals and Pinky isn't what I would consider that moral, in fact I'm pretty sure if I asked her she wouldn't even know what a moral was. I guess I'll just be morally, well Gray. I need to find someone with higher morals if I'm going to recreate the Jedi Order. In no way do I have enough to bring back an organization founded on peace.

"HEY!" Pinky's shrieking in my ear was enough to snap me away from my thoughts and back to reality.

"Sorry, had to umm... mull some things over." I say, she is looking at me with yet another worried face.

"You have to talk out loud to do that?" She looks concerned, but she quickly turns back to the window when there is a knock on the door.

The knocks on the door are by a trooper, I can tell because the force mentions it to me. I look at her to answer it, but then she looks at me and I get a weird feeling. "There is no way I can answer that door, I have PINK hair. It's a pretty obvious trait, they will know it's me right away if the baker told them something. If they think there is more than one person in here though they will search the house! How do I get this crazy chick who talks to herself to answer the door for me without making a noise?" It's Pinky, but she's not saying the words out loud, she's thinking them. With a little bit of a shock I realize that I'm holding the padawan braid again. It must be making the force more powerful, that's why I can read her mind. Once again I'm astonished by the mind tricks I've picked up ever since the force began communicating with me, but not as astonished as Pinky's about to be. "Don't worry, crazy chick's got your back!" I speak the words mentally at her. I see her face morph into a mixture of surprise and horror, I wink at her to get the point across. Watching the whole ordeal I finally see understanding light in her eyes and I know that she gets it.

There is a violent four beat knock at the door and I rush over. I grab my braid to find out who's on the other side before I open the door. I feel two troopers that are both armed but I'm not really all that worried, everyone knows that storm troopers can't hit anything with a blaster. I open the door wide and welcome them in, I can feel Pinky moving behind me, she is trying to hide herself quietly.

"Good evening officers, what can I do for you?" I don't push any force magic into it, but I muster up all the innocence I can into my voice.

"Good evening miss, I was wondering if you have seen either of these individuals" The one on the left is talking and seems extremely bored. Neither of these troopers look very professional, they aren't even wearing the helmets, just holding them at their sides. Meanwhile the man on the right is holding out a poster with two pictures. I look sparingly at the pictures so as not to attract attention, but I see enough to know that Pinky would have been caught instantly. The first picture is of a girl with long wavy pink hair, poorly drawn armor, and a crude ax in her hand. The next picture is almost enough to make me laugh. The image that is supposed to be me is of a girl wearing a tunic and pants of indeterminate color with black hair that is pulled back. The picture has none of the little features that would define me and is so generic that I can't help but give a small smirk. I realize that this will grab their attention so I offer them a little false information.

"That girl, the one on the left, yeah her." They look at me with mild enthusiasm. I decide to give them a little false hope first…

"Is her hair actually pink? I've never met someone with pink hair before, that is so cool! I wonder who dyed it, wait! What if it was naturally that color? That would be awesome!" Then I disappoint them by telling them exactly what they had anticipated. I gave a high pitched squeal and snapped the picture out of their hands, I was pretending to be a kid my age who was excited over a new hair style. I had pulled the idea from the talking guys mind, he has a daughter about my age so I figure he would understand.

"I'm sorry miss, but we need that back now." He said it forcefully enough for me to feel Pinky shift her ax in her hand behind me. However I could sense that he meant it gently, so I reluctantly returned the image. They began to turn around and leave, I obviously had no idea what was going on, and I was just an ignorant adolescent. To them at least, and that is all they needed to know. They left and I closed the door slowly behind them. The buzzing of the force hadn't lessened at all, and since I almost missed the warning last time I'm not inclined to dismiss the feeling again.

"Hey, still there?" Pinky once again snapping me back into reality.

"Oh yeah, was just thinking about how the force hasn't stopped" I mention it casually, but I see her eyes grow wide. At first I think it's something I said then I realize she's staring out the window, not at me. I know there is something behind me, but I don't feel it. It's a weird feeling, what could be outside that's not alive? All those troopers, the baker and son, the citizens I can feel. Why can't I feel what is right behind me, just beyond that window? I am about to turn around when I have a feeling that it would be a bad idea. Whatever horrible thing is about to happen, I don't want to turn around and see it, that and the force is telling me not to. I stand still and I reach slowly for my braid. I listen intently to the humming of the force and then I search for Pinky's mind, unsurprisingly it's not that hard to find this time. I guess each time I open this communication channel it will became easier. I listen to her thoughts and fear even more the idea of turning around. "I can fight it off, it can't be that much different from fighting anything else" I feel the worry that haunts her as she mind speaks. I know that it's not an actual term, but it feels like the right word to use. "It's not that big, I've beaten worse." The false confidence is there, and I'm glad in a strange way that she tells herself these things. She doesn't act tough on the outside and have weak innards, no this is Pinky. That means that she doesn't act, she is who she is, both inside and out. There is something so stable about her and I find myself comforted by the fact that I have made such a great ally.

I turn quickly and I see why she felt the need to reassure herself. The humming roars in my ears, and despite the usual calm that I feel when I hear the force so clearly, I feel only terror. Sitting just outside the window is a droideka with both guns aimed straight at us. I know at once that this enemy is not mine to fight, it's a droid. I cannot use my mind control on creature made of metal, on something without a brain to bend. This droid will not be twisted beyond its intended programming, and by the red glare in its eyes I assume it has discovered us. It has probably already made up its mind and made the connections between Pinky and the picture. If Pinky was found then I was as well, it's an easy connection to make. Especially since we are together, if I had left her they never would have found me. No, I can't think like that. Just because I met this girl only hours ago does not mean that we don't have a connection. In fact I've never got along with anyone as well as her, despite our differences. I will not abandon her, and I feel ashamed that the thought ever crossed my mind. I wonder if Pinky ever has these kind of thoughts, I could check her mind, but I already know the answer. She is too good of a person, and I have no doubt in her. I only hope she thinks the same of me.

Pinky's done waiting, her resolve has hardened and she grabs her ax smashing straight into the window then jumping through the shattered glass. She manages to destroy the droideka, but she won't be so lucky a second time. All the droidekas in the street, at least another five or six of them, instantly turn on their force shields. With the sun having so recently set, the faint blue glow of the force shields illuminates the streets. Pinky is moving swiftly with the force and attempting to flip on top of the droids and slice them apart from above, she thinks it will work because it showed up on some of the old clone wars holograms. I keep track of her thoughts and allow her to hear mine, this communication thing just might work to our advantage. I know I won't be much use in this fight without being able to use my mind control, but I need to help out somehow. I pick up the staff that I had dropped when the force gave me a warning. I lift up the light wood it is made out of and give it a quick examination. About six feet tall, typical staff height, but made of an extremely durable wood. I take a closer look at the staff and see that it isn't exactly just a stick. There are a lot of small buttons and a few notches on it near the middle, all of it in a niche covered by a false opening. I am about to start messing with it when I feel Pinky scream.

I run out of the house and see her leaning up against the wall of another house. At first I think she was wounded, then I see the baker. His unmistakable small round shape is slumped on the ground and her ax is buried halfway through his neck. A cry of anger, that's all it was. She is breathing heavily and resting against the wall, a short reprieve from the chaos around us. I slow down since she is not in danger, but somehow forgetting that I am. A droideka rolls up and blocks my path, its force shield is up in an instant and I am freaking out. I aim the staff at the droid and click a button at random really hoping that something happens. The staff shrinks down into a single piece of wood, apparently it's collapsible. Good to know. Now I am standing in front of a well armored piece of deadly machinery with only a small block of wood in my hand to defend myself. I AM SO DEAD.

I really don't want to die. Holy knights of the Jedi Order do I not want to die. I have a lot of things left to do in my lifetime, I have to takedown the empire! I still need to aid in the return of the Jedi! How can I do any of that if I'm dead?

*Pew*

It happens in an instant, I see the light of the blaster and watch as it comes toward me. I watch as the beam heads straight for my heart. I am going to die. There is no bargaining with death, the force has shown me that. I have however not resigned myself to this fate. Even in these last moments I cling to life, I am proud of myself for this, I always feared I would die a coward. I am not afraid of it nor accepting, simply hoping it does not come. The ray comes within inches of me and I think I am about to die. Any other outcome is unlikely, I am not able to move fast as Pinky, I can't dodge the droidekas fire the way I have seen her do. I'm going to die.

As I think this I sense something odd, a movement to my left. I sense a presence but none like I have ever felt before. There is something extremely righteous about the person, no not person. Jedi. It's a female, but she is well trained unlike me and Pinky. She doesn't carry a gun or blaster, no she carries something honorable and strong. I think at first that it may be a light saber, but I would have sensed a weapon that powerful long before now. I watch dreadfully as the blast from the droideka slowly spans the last few inches to my chest. Then at the very last possible moment, I see a bright glint. The beam is deflected from my chest and into my leg and I scream out, but I am happy nonetheless. The pain I feel in my leg is nothing compared to the certainty of the death that would have come had the swords not saved me. Two swords crossed over my body in an "X" shape and my rescuer is standing up above me. From where I have fallen flat on the ground I look up the twin blades shafts and see, framed by the cold metal, the face of a girl with blazing red hair.


	5. Chapter 5

The pain in my right leg is throbbing with all the pain of a fresh wound, but I know better than to complain about it now. My life was just saved, it would be rude to dismay over a single wound. I was going to try and be chivalrous about it but when I look down at my leg and see that the blast has hit me in the knee, well I kind of freak out. No longer trying to play it cool and act like nothing has happened my face contorts itself in a way that portrays both the pain I'm feeling and the shock I am now overcome with. I have a basic understanding of medicine due mostly to my mother being a medic, pretty convenient to have her as part of my origin story. S as I look at it I can tell that it is going to greatly impair my ability to walk. Great, I'm already weak, now I won't even be able to walk by myself. I am already weighing down Pinky by being useless in a fight, I don't want her to have to drag me around now. I was going to look around for a stick when I remember the staff.

I find it on the ground next to me and pick it up. It is basically a simple piece of wood now but with a few added buttons and knobs on it. As I look at it I can't help but wonder what idiot designed the thing. Most of the buttons don't even work, and the knobs only make the wood change thickness. The only thing it actually does is extend and shrink. I can't help but wonder if pinky was right, maybe it was just a useless stick. The thought of Pinky brings me back to the real world, well that and the fact that she is screaming in my head. "GRAY ARE YOU STILL IN MY HEAD, ARE YOU OKAY?!"

"Jeez, yes Pinky I'm here." I respond out loud then realize that I have no idea if she is close enough to hear me or not. I mindspeak it just in case she can't hear me normally.

"Good, I totally thought you were dead."

"I love your confidence. Anyway I would be dead if it hadn't been for… Hey where did she go?" I look around and realize that not only can I not find the girl who saved me, but I am also a lot woozier than I thought.

"She who? Gray? Gray?!" I hear the worry in her voice, but I don't answer.

Despite my own pain there is another sort of throbbing, actually it is more of a sound than a feeling. It takes me a second to recognize it as the force, it was so faint. Faint. I feel the force push a thought into my mind and I follow its instruction diligently. I look towards the bakers building and see the red haired girl ducking inside. She is looking out the door frame with twin blades in hand. I sense the force within her, even from this distance. I watch her deftly swing her blade and take out a few of the storm troopers, she doesn't really kill them, just knocks them out with the hilts. Perfect, someone with morals, she won't kill mindlessly like Pinky does. The force is radiating from her and as I look her up and down I know she is one of us. She wears a simple red breast plate and shirt with some tannish underclothing. On her arms she was wearing heavy looking, but protective, arm guards. Her boots were made for combat and her swords were expertly crafted. She had a small pack crossed over her body and intricately carved metallic scabbards gleamed black on her back. She looked like someone who had just left home and was preparing for a long journey. Evidently she wasn't poor, her armor was to elaborate for that, but she wasn't rich either. The lack of a bed roll and other provisions hinted to me that she has been travelling for a little while, a week at least. I immediately decide to trust her for a couple of reasons. For one she just saved my life, albeit getting me shot in the leg. Secondly the mysterious girl was a forceling, another user of the force and therefore a potential Jedi. Lastly, and most importantly, the force keeps showing me her.

However the force does have other things it wants to show me. The humming sound draws me suddenly to a new subject of interest, my damaged knee. I look at the wound again and take a better look this time. A deep crimson is coming from it and I notice a few key components that I had missed earlier. The wound is more of burn mark, but it has definitely penetrated the skin, it's also a little more serious than I had previously thought. I figured I would get up and walk towards Pinky to see how her fights going, the newcomer in red isn't going to need any help. Out of the corner of my eye I can see her lifting things with the force and hurling them at the droidekas. I was more than a little jealous of this feat, I can barely levitate rocks and this girl is tossing around wagons like it's nothing. However, none of my previous plans of going to Pinky are going to go through, not with this knee wound. I decide that if I get out of this I am investing in some kind of knee armor, sitting in the middle of a battle field while bleeding is not the best plan to stay alive and I would rather not end up in this type of situation again. My knee isn't going to let me walk all the way over to Pinky who is now on the other side of the street hiding behind a large tree.

"Pinky, there is no way I am walking." I watch her as she scoots out from behind a tree and looks towards me.

"Well how do we get out of here then? Can't you use the staff?" Her mindspeak feels proud, she made a plan and obviously loves the fact that she came up with it.

"The thing shrunk on me and it's not going back to its regular size, I can't figure the stupid thing out!" I keep clicking buttons and other things but despite all the love I now have for the weapon, it doesn't seem to return the feeling.

"You're the one that chose the stick." She said it so matter of factly that I really did question the force's choice in weaponry.

"Well what do I-" I must have hit the right button because the piece of wood unfolded, somewhat. Rather than the initial long single piece of wood that it was it was about the height of an elder's cane.

I hear laughter coming from the inside of my head and I can't help but think that this is what it must be like when you go crazy. I know Pinky finds it amusing that I am wounded and rather than holding a slightly threatening piece of wood I have what is essentially a cane to fend off any incoming enemies. I rip a piece of fabric from my pants and tie it around the wound, not tight enough for it to be considered a tourniquet, just so it would stay on my knee and soak up the blood. I use the cane a prop myself up, I feel a bit faint. Faint, not a great word to be using right now. If I do faint right here and now nothing good will come of it. I use the cane and limp towards the nearest building inch by inch. The droidekas are more or less destroyed, only two are left and they don't seem to have gotten the memo yet. They are rolling around listlessly in the near darkness that now plagues the streets. Someone grabs my shoulder and I turn quickly, screaming would only cause an unnecessary commotion. It's the red haired girl, she gestures for me to follow her. The force hums in agreement.

"Pinky, I'm following the mystery girl." She feels a little put-off and then she answers

"I have no idea what you are talking about. What girl?" I think back and realize that she must have been busy with the baker when I was shot, she probably didn't even see the female swordsmen.

"Listen, while you were killing the baker a girl came out of nowhere and deflected the droidekas ray, she saved my life." I tried to fill her in, but all I got from her was a sense of confusion.

"Wait up a second, I'm going with you." She was across the street and nearly three buildings away from the one I was at.

"How are you going to-" I was trying to figure out how she was going to get here, I really had to go chase the red haired sword girl. She disappeared into the building just before I contacted Pinky. When I realized her plan I thought she was joking. From where I was I watched as she squatted down like a frog, she looked like she was preparing for a jump.

"This is nuts, you'll never make it. I don't know how good you are at the force, but if you don't do this right you will get seriously hurt!" I pleaded with her through mindspeak but she just ignored me. She braced herself against the ground and started her own little countdown.

"3…2…1…WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!" She screeched between my ears, the sound of her screams ringing in my head. I saw her lift off the ground and she streaked across the sky. She landed two feet in front of me with a graceful little black flip and gave a bow. I stared at her for a moment than gave her a short round of applause. She deserved it, there is no way anyone else could've done that. Then I grabbed her arm and pulled her into the building.

"Soooo… Where we going?" I give her a sideways glance and she switches to mindspeak.

"We are following sword girl, I'm using the force to track her." She rolls her eyes and we continue on her trail.

We came to a little open area and see the girl standing there, she gives us an impatient look. She is a little taller than Pinky and a little shorter than me. Her red armor is glinting in the light of a small fire she started in the hearth. All these buildings were homes only an hour ago, now everyone has pretty much evacuated this street, no one wants to be caught on the bad side of the empire. The street isn't really a war ground, but the blaster marks on the walls and the abandoned homes sure make it seem like one.

"So are you sword girl?" Pinky mindspeaks, the girl looks at her expectantly.

"You need to talk to her _outloud._" Pinky gives me a blank look

"She isn't patched into our mind to mind communication thing, she can't her your thoughts." Pinky is still looking at me.

"She can't read minds, I can." Pinky looks completely lost. I really don't get her sometimes.

"Follow my lead" I get a nod in response from my pink-haired companion and we turn back toward the other girl.

"So are you two done with your… psychic conversation?" She has no idea what was happening between me and Pinky.

"Actually it's a kind of a mindreading thing…" she gives me a confused look and I realize that even though she can use the force she doesn't seem to be that much more intuitive than Pinky.

"Who are you?" Pinky tries to bring the conversation back around to the important stuff.

"Well if you guys are mind readers than you should be able to figure that out" She's obviously testing us.

I decide to make a point, she thinks I'm useless and this is my chance to prove her wrong. I grab the braid. I delve into the force and then straight into her mind. Images of a happy family flood through her mind. A strong looking woman wielding all kinds of weapons, a father working hard at a forge, another version of her, her twin probably, shooting a bow and arrow. Her twin is always younger in the images, I look deeper and see why. The twin, Zandrea, she left home a long time ago, she was an early bloomer with the force and she snuck away when she was young, no older than ten years. I see her at home saddened by her twin's departure then years later she begins levitating objects. I watch as she packs her things and sneaks out during the night leaving only a letter in her wake. Then I see her name. Such an old fashioned name, it's so classic and simple it makes me smile. The name once belonged to a planet from a sector of the galaxy far beyond the outer rim. It was supposed to be a dusty planet, a lot like Tatooine only instead of blue it was red. The planet is where humans first made contact with the rest of the galaxy. It's often used in legends to describe the birthplace of peace and exploration, a fitting name for a Jedi. I let go of the braid and share what I have learned.

"Your mother is a Weapons Mistress, your father an impressive blacksmith, you have a twin who left home a long time ago and you are on a mission to find her. You left home two weeks ago when you realized you could levitate objects. Zandrea, your twin, was a forceling as well that's why she left and that is why you left. You didn't want your parents to be burdened by the horrors it could bring. You have followed what little of the force you can perceive here, to us." She looked at me wide eyed and was speechless.

I forgot something, if I want her to join us I'm going to need to make more than a simple point. I pulled out the emblem of the Jedi Order and showed it to her, she gazed at it with all the longing of a lost child. Pinky looked at it again, but I had no need to do so. I knew that symbol was just an image, what it represents is what is important. I took this moment of her stunned silence and used to tell her what I have been waiting to say since I saw her.

"The birthplace of peace and exploration, the beginning of humans in the galaxy. I am Gray, this is Pinky and you are Mars. The force must always be in equilibrium, a perfect balance of good and evil. The empire is weighing down one side of the scales, and I think that if we rebuild the Jedi Order we can balance it all out." I watch as her eyes finally draw away from the emblem and look into mine and Pinky's. She doesn't have the ambition Pinky had, she isn't drawn by the force like I am, but I know she will join us. She didn't leave home just to find her twin and protect her parents, she wanted to. She is an adventurer at heart, I can feel the force telling me. She wants to explore the galaxy, to seek out new civilizations and boldly go where no Jedi has gone before! I feel the force hum reassuringly, and all my worries disappear.

"Okay, but on one condition Pinky" She turns to Pinky stares her straight in the face.

"..what?" Pinky looks at her and speaks a little reluctantly. She doesn't trust Mars quite yet.

"Keep her," she points at me "out of my head." They were mock whispering to each other and bust out laughing. I've made an interesting team here, and I can't wait to see where it leads us.

Those two are friends, I just hope that it will work between all of us. I open a mindspeak channel and am a little surprised to find that there is a little subconscious resistance to it, perhaps Mars is smarter than I thought. I give her a mindspeak greeting that chills her to the bone, the message is meant in fun, but also reminds her that once we leave there is no going back. "Welcome to our group, I'm so glad you could…_Join us._"


	6. Chapter 6

After our little meet and greet we decided that we better get out of the building. The droideka debris that littered the street outside, courtesy of Mars, was not helping to conceal our location. The force was still buzzing, but not loudly. However the sound was strong enough to catch my attention so I needed to learn more about it. I went to the middle of the room and swiped my half extended staff across the table, plates and glasses clattered and clinked until they hit the floor and the sharp sound of breaking glass filled the room. The eyes of my companions grew wide but I ignored them. I sit cross legged on the table and grab my braid with one hand while placing the other calmly on my knee.

"Gray?" First came Pinky's concerned voice.

"Umm… Gray? What are you doing?" Then there was Mars's much more logical tone.

Now that I have spent the last hour or so with these two I think I have finally made my general judgments about my companions. Pinky, as I have mentioned many times, is a little violent. She is quick to anger and always ready for a fight. She is a rough and tumble kind of person, but she also seems to be a little unpredictable. She killed a guy over cookies. Cookies, for goodness sakes. Her temper is unbridled, but at least her skill with the ax and her fighting style are always able to keep her alive. She doesn't seem to have any morals at all, but given the burning hatred she has for the empire and rebels alike I know she isn't entirely lenient on the rules. Now Mars is a completely different story. Mars has had a normal, and even somewhat profitable, life. As a blacksmiths daughter she always had at least some money, and her mother training her to fight was yet another thing in her favor. A perfect life minus the whole runaway twin thing, but even then it meant that she was the only child of a well-off couple, and that could never be a bad thing. Mars has no resentment towards anyone except maybe the empire, and that's only because she has probably seen the lesser horrors of what they have done on holograms. The true evil that the empire does isn't confined to simple slavery or murder of a few innocents, the genocide of entire star systems is more their speed. Not that they can build a working hyper drive or anything, they just destroy systems slowly.

Pinky's mission is of revenge, Mars's is in search of her twin and adventure. That is great to know, but why am I here? Sure my mother is missing, but I don't feel the need to go out and find her. This whole Jedi Order thing is to find the real heroes so they can fight the real battles. I don't blame anyone for anything and I am not in search of anyone, so why should I be here? I don't have either of my fellow Jedi's skill or ambition. I feel the force give me an unnatural jolt and my entire body shudders. At first I think it's a warning than I realize that the force is simply giving me a reminder that I do have a reason for travelling around. I may not be the strongest or the bravest or the toughest or anything remotely related to that, but I can be persuasive. I am so force sensitive that I can actually hear it, and not only hear, but have these really awkward conversations with it. Perhaps I don't get a choice. I have no delusions that I am going to become a hero, in fact I might actually be doing the opposite. I am trying to become a villain to the empire, nothing more than that. The only thing I ever wanted to do was help people out, like my mom does. Being smart and manipulative doesn't sound like helping, but in a way it can be. Wielding intellect is just like wielding a weapon. With a weapon you dish out blows hoping something will hit. With intelligence you spit out words hoping someone will be affected by them.

"HELLO GRAY XD" Pinky's voice booms within my skull. How the heck did she open a mindspeak channel? For that matter how does one send a freaking emoticon through mental correspondence?

"Hey is Mars out there?" I have to make sure everyone is here before I try something.

"What up?" I hear yet another voice enter the channel.

"Well now that everyone is tuned in to my personal radio station we should"- I am suddenly interrupted.

"We should call it Gradio."

"Pinky that has to be the stupidest"- I am interrupted by Mars this time.

"I like it."

"Are you serious?" I can't believe this.

"It sounds kinda cool." Mars's voice is way to calm.

"Ok so if we are done coming up with names"- cut off yet again.

"I came up with it!" Pinky's voice echoes proudly.

"Yes, thank you for that. Now I am going to test something on you, brace yourselves." I begin to push images into their minds.

"Wait, what are you… Woah," Pinky finally stopped talking as the pictures came into view.

I have never really tried to do this before, mainly because I have never had anyone I trusted this much. The basic concept is that I think of an image and I send it into someone else's head so they can see it. I figured that it can't be much different from when I put words into others heads, and these two I trust so why not give it a try? I hear two loud thumps and it takes me a minute to register what just happened. Having shared the image I let go of my braid to leave the deeper side of the force and opened my eyes. I look around and see both Mars and Pinky sprawled out on the floor just shy of the broken utensils I swept off the table earlier. I kind of forgot about that. When I had first recognized what the force for what it was I had a lot of issues controlling it. When it became too much I had a bad habit of crumpling to the floor. The incense on some planets may be able to make brains melt, that seems powerful but I have to say the force can be some pretty trippy stuff. A couple weeks ago when the force started its incessant humming I had stopped and simply dropped more than once. Actually it was two, two weeks, the exact amount of time since Mars left home… I would call it a coincidence, but the universe is rarely so lazy. I wait for my comrades to get back up, but they don't so I begin to panic.

"Hey. Hey, Pinky? You all right?" I begin to worriedly shake her, hoping she wakes up.

I hear a blade slide out of its scabbard and turn towards the other person in the room. Mars stands up a little shakily, but she looks all right. I think she is going to slide her sword back into its rightful place on her back when she turns it towards me.

"Die," she looks at me and I notice a shift in the color of her eyes, her usual brown changing into a deep scarlet that matches her hair.

"Mars?" I look at my comrade turned adversary and try to get through to her without messing with her mind.

"unhhhh" Pinky groans beneath me, I look at her neck and see a flash of silver beneath her pink curls.

I quickly brush aside her hair and, on closer examination, I see a small cut in the side of her neck. I look at it and see a blackish goop coming from the opening. I use what little levitation I can to extract the poison from her veins. I feel the force hum and I shift my whole body to the exact location it directed me too. I turn around to face Mars but she already is bringing her blade down in an arc. I quickly lift my partially extended staff to block it, but all it manages to do is deflect the shaft to the left. She quickly recovers and pulls out her other sword, she comes at me and I try to block again. This doesn't work as well as it did the last time, my staff breaks clean in half from the razor edges and falls to the ground. The very blades that I had looked upon with astonishment and wonder when I was saved by them were now coming at me with a lethality that was unimaginable. Without the staffs minor resistance to attack I am left completely open and my vulnerable skin is suddenly exposed.

"UGHHHH" A bestial cry comes from the ground and somehow a large ax sneaks into the place between the sharpened steel and my flesh.

Pinky's sudden save and the realization of my possible bodily harm give me both a new respect for my friend and the push I needed. I looked straight into the blood red eyes of the girl in front of me, friend or not she was going down. I saw right through her and searched frantically for the source of her sudden mood swing. There was no obvious physical difference and the change was seemingly mental. I found it, luckily the source was outside, and she didn't suddenly go mad on me. A simple toxin, she had been scratched by something during the fight. This makes it easier, it's probably the same thing that Pinky had in her, and that means all I have to do is levitate the stuff out of her. I just hope it hasn't spread too badly.

"DUCK!" Pinky is up and swinging, ready to go head to head with Mars. I rush over to the table and get ready to perform poison extraction again.

"Pinky, get her on the table." I say it calmly, but she understands the urgency.

Mars has had a lot of training and is probably a weapons mistress more capable than many fighters, but no one is capable of Pinky. She brings her ax down with a venomous rage more potent and lethal than anything that could be running through Mars's veins. Pinky makes an expert leap and pushes Mars on the table, she then quickly summersaults over Mars's form and pins her tightly to the table.

"NOW!"

I quickly go over to Mars and wrench her struggling head down onto the table. I didn't want to go into her mind from a distance, it would have been too risky in her altered state. When there was skin contact though, it made it extremely easy. I whispered through mindspeak into a private channel between me and her "Sleep." Simple phrases were always the most powerful. The effect was instantaneous. Mars breathing became even and her lids dropped, she was definitely out. I felt a force buzz and grabbed my braid. I looked at her body, but I wasn't seeing normally. I was looking directly through the epidermis, I could see through her skin. I saw the toxin as a deep black fluid that intermingled with other cells in her blood stream, it slowly made its way from a cut on her arm towards her brain. I only have one shot at this, I better not screw this up. I used my new found x-ray vision to pinpoint the poison and began to do the same thing I had done to Pinky before. I would have asked Pinky to help out, but I really don't think she would've been able to. As I worked I wondered exactly how x-vision has anything to do with the force. I got a light humming in response, something I somehow interpreted. Mars is a living being, the force is and controls all life, therefore it can control how I perceive things and how other things are perceived. The force is very enigmatic like that, all very confusing. Now back to the task at hand. As I finish ripping the filth from someone who is my now going on three hours long friend, she begins to tense. Apparently forced sleep isn't quite as restful, so I tap her gently of the shoulder after bandaging up the leg I had pulled the toxin out from. "Awake."

She looks at me blindly then at Pinky. She's a little tired and I watch as she tries to sit up.

"She's really slow" My plucky pink haired companion decides to comment.

"Yeah she is." I have to agree with her, I have never seen anyone recover that slowly from anything.

"Shut up!" The exclamation probably would've got us to quiet down, but when she slammed back into the table it kind of just ruined the moment.

"How long is this going to take Mars?" Pinky is trying not to crack a smile.

"It takes her forever just to sit-up" I whisper to Pinky co-conspiratorially.

"You are the worst kind of person!" Mars's desperate pleas aren't really helping her case though, so she just ends up laying back down on the table.

I get a force hum and feel peace for about twelve seconds, we will have twelve hours before any attacks come. Don't ask how I'm interpreting this stuff, just be glad I can. I tell them that we have some time to sleep and they both conk out faster than if I had used mindcontrol. How those two feel asleep so easily was a wonder. I think about the event of the last hour and wonder why I wasn't poisoned. Then I realized they must have got cut while fighting something, and I didn't really do any fighting. The mental image I had pushed into their minds was likely the last straw. When the sudden mental strain to feel images was on them their bodies gave out from the pressure and the toxin began to run rampant through their systems. I was useless once again in a fight, I couldn't face a droid and I couldn't even help restrain Mars. Pinky did all of that, I did nothing.

Mars was passed out on the table with the weirdest smile on her face, I probe her mind a bit and get a blast of some seriously loud rock music. I guess I can sense dreams, neat. My punk friend dreams about the Falling Star Boys and something about tree stumps that I don't really understand. Meanwhile I wander over to Pinky who is snoozing on a couch and I feel a tremendous amount of heat and see only a blazing fire. At first I think it's some dark, horrible nightmare about her family dying. Than the image clears and I see her in her dreams sitting at a bonfire serenely eating s'mores while a man's corpse that looks a lot like the baker's son serves as the fuel for the flames. Killing his father was evidently not enough, she wants to take out the whole family. She is one messed up individual. I gather myself in the clothes I have and curl up on the floor, my staff is broken so I don't even have that anymore. I go to sleep thinking of all I have gained during this day, and fearing all that I now have to loose.


	7. Chapter 7

I awake to a steady thrum of humming. At first I think it is the force which has been my alarm clock for a while now, but that's not it this time. I sit up from the floor and take in my surroundings. A breeze drifts through the window and I see Mars still out cold laying across the surface of the table. I look at the couch and am surprised to see that Pinky is already up, she is looking through her pack and is humming to herself quietly. I watch for a moment and notice something odd about her, she is unarmed. This is the first time I have seen her without a weapon at the ready or a look of blood lust on her face, in fact, right now she looks serene. As she moves around she has a sense of grace about her, her movements are fluid and calm. She works on her task dutifully and acts as though nothing has happened. I wouldn't say she looked vulnerable or weak, but she did look somewhat innocent. I look over at Mars and see the same tranquility in her face. Mars may be a great fighter, but somehow she retains a look of purity. Now that I think about it she didn't kill a single person. Throughout the fight she knocked one trooper out and destroyed several droidekas, but no deaths were on her hands. I look between the two of them and wonder if, in a normal world, they would ever have crossed paths.

"Good Morning!" Pinky smiles brightly at me from where she is re-packing her things into her pack, surprisingly it isn't pink.

I just nod blankly in response, still under the influence of the morning stupor. I hear Mars shift around behind me and I turn around to look at her. As soon as I see her I can't help but give a little yelp of surprise. Pinky, hearing my alert, grabs a dagger from the top of her pack and jumps on the table with the sound of wind streaming behind her. She managed to jump across the room, lean over the waking form of Mars, and place a knife at her throat all in one fluid motion. I walk over cautiously to where they are and keep my distance now that I am sure of what I saw. I see the girl on the table finally register what is going on, slowly her now red eyes begin to widen.

"Pinky, What the heck?" a strangled cry ripped from her throat. She looks at Pinky and then at me in turn. Realizing that something's wrong, she tries a different approach.

"Did I spazz out again?" Her question remains unanswered as me and Pinky risk a quick glance at each other.

"I don't think she's going to attack us, she seems fine." I say it outloud and Mars gives me a questioning glance. Pinky slowly removes the knife from her throat, but she still holds it out defensively.

"What's wrong?" She asked, a question I am not sure I know how to answer. I have no idea how she will react to the answer.

"What color are your eyes?" Pinky, ignoring all pleasantries and getting straight to the point.

"Brown… Why would you ask me tha-" before she can even finish her sentence Pinky lunges the dagger toward her, stopping just shy of her face. She turns the blade sideways so it acts as a mirror, and before Mars can make a noise of surprise she sees her own eyes looking back at her. At first she seems bewildered, but after getting a better look her face begins to change. I thought she would be horrified by the idea that her eyes were turned from their regular brown to a bright crimson, but that was not the case. Instead she gave us a large smile and cried out.

"This is so cool! MY EYES ARE FLIPPING RED!" I was at a loss. I would never have thought anyone would be okay with their eye color being changed, or get excited about it.

So we've been awake for about half an hour now and already Mars has almost had her throat sliced by Pinky, what a great morning. I grab my braid and fell three separate beats, we slept for about nine hours then. I figure we should get a move on early, just in case, so I get up and look around in search of food. I go out a door that leads to a small kitchen and rummage through the cabinets. I take out a couple cans and start looking though the drawers when I hear a door hinge squeak. I look and see a bright pink colored head slip through the opening, there is a mischievous look in her eyes.

"SOOOO, you gonna make cookies?" her speech started out loud than seemed to go down in volume.

"Cookies?" I repeat questioningly.

"Cookies" she responded. I think about her request then remember that was how I met her, stealing cookies from that baker she later killed.

"No way, the last guy who made you cookies died. Why did you kill him anyway?" I want to know why she did it, but I'm also a little afraid of the response. Pinky has lost both her parents and sister to the rebels, she has a lot of contempt for others' lives. I wonder how dark her answer will really be.

"I had to ax him a question" she said it so non-chalantly, I worry about her.

"That's not a good reason to kill someone." Mars makes an appearance walking straight into the kitchen and sitting on top of the counter.

"What's a deer with good eye sight?" A little annoyed by the change in topic, I respond.

"What?" Mars and I both saying it at the same time.

"A Good-eyed-deer!" the way she said it was quick so it came out sounding like 'goodeyeddeer.'

Why this was funny, I have no idea, but for some reason we all found it hysterical. The room was filled with laughter, and we still had no idea why. We cracked open a few cans and ate beans from them, not the best breakfast but better than nothing. After swiping a few more cans and placing them in the others' packs we decide that it was finally time to abandon the house. We walked straight out the front door and were pleasantly surprised to see that there were no droidekas or troopers in sight.

"So where do we go now?" Mars voice echoed in the empty neighborhood.

"Off planet, I don't want to take any risks and get caught what with all the attention we've attracted."

"Makes since, I got here by transport." Figures, Mars would pay with actual money for a trip. I have never had the luxury.

"I know a place." I had almost forgotten that Pinky has lived here all her life. In fact I don't think she has ever brought herself to leave this town, not since her family died.

She trudged forward and took the lead, I followed her and Mars brought up the rear. We formed an odd progression as we walked down the barren streets. Eventually we ended up in the crowded square where I had met Pinky. With all the things going on in the square, I didn't want to lose my friends.

"Testing…Testing…" I sent out a broadcast to Mars and Pinky and I felt them enter the channel.

"Here" Mars answered immediately.

"YAY! Gradio is back!" Pinky, somehow she managed to scream in our heads.

"Just making sure this thing is working in case we get separated." I felt everyone on the channel and left it at that.

We followed Pinky around the outer edges of the square, she slinked down an alley way and we turned after her. She went up to a heavy metal door and pulled out a ring from her bag. It was a small silver ring with a design on it, the image depicted the rebel alliance insignia. She put it around her right ring finger and gave a single, sharp knock to the door with it. The sound reverberated through the door and gave off an interesting sound. I felt a movement towards the door from the other side, I listened intensely and heard the resounding click as the deadbolt slid and the knob slowly turned. The door opened slowly and a male Twi'lek peeped his head out.

"Pinky!" The surprise was evident in his voice. He quickly looked at us then back to Pinky, she gave him a slight nod and he ushered us all in through the door.

We walked into a dark room that was empty, except for a few tables scattered with bruised apples and rotting fruit. The man led us to a table and then pushed it up against s wall revealing a hidden hatch. He threw the hatch open and pointed at a ladder leaning down. He climbed through himself and waited for us at the bottom.

"Pinky, are you sure about this guy?" If she trusts him, I'm willing to give him a chance. I can sense Mars listening in on the Gradio.

"With my life" her voice is unwavering. She doesn't miss a beat and I sense a bond between them.

I look at the ladder and the waving figure below, I desperately want to know the connection between the two, but for now I will respect Pinky's privacy. I put my foot on the first rung and slowly make my way down the ladder. I hear the others follow, their steps echoing against the hollow metal. As I near the bottom it is not the dark, dank cellar I had anticipated. Instead there are bright festive lights and soft music playing in the background. I step off the bottom rung and walk into the room, there is the sound of at least fifteen others talking. The room is a large bar with holograms displaying news of the war, this channel isn't the propaganda the empire broadcasts; this is the rebel alliance channel. I have been travelling for a while and I have seen quite a few underground places like this, mostly illegal dealing for weapons or information. Never however, have I seen this many rebels in one place. I looked around and I could see that everyone was well-armed, all were wearing the rebel symbol somewhere on their armor. The man who had led us here had disappeared behind the bar for a moment but he came back soon.

"Pinky, I never thought you would come back. I thought you were done with us." His earlier look of surprise was gone now, replaced only by a hurt look on his face.

"I told you already, I will not join the rebels. But I need your help, my friends and I, we need to get off planet. We caused a bit of a mess in town." She explained it carefully.

"That was you? That means…all of you are Jedi?" He looked at us incredulously. The music stopped playing and the whole bar turned at the mention of that title. Some with looks of wonder, others with disbelief. Not many Jedi still existed these days, so the reaction shouldn't have been surprising. The onlookers went back to their business and the band started playing the Catina again, but they still stole glances in our direction.

"Not the point, we need a way off planet, and soon." Pinky was still trying to explain the situation when a man approached us.

"Are you Jedi?" The man looked old, probably old enough to have been in the clone wars.

"That depends, why are you asking?" I turned on him, scanning his mind for his intent. He had indeed been in the clone wars, he served under a Jedi General. His intent was far from malevolent, he wanted to help us.

"I owe a certain Jedi my life, but he's gone now. In his honor allow me and my army here to help you. We can give you clothes, armor, weapons, provisions, even lodging for the night if you need it. By tomorrow morning we will have a transport ready for you." His words were sincere, his heart ached with the guilt of not being able to pay that Jedi back.

"Gray, what's he thinking?" Pinky is mindspeaking to me.

"He really does want to help, but let's not take his offer without hearing out everyone. Mars?"

"I trust him." Mars chimes in.

"You trust everybody." Pinky criticizes.

"So are we agreed?" I try to reign them back in.

"Yeah." Mars' voice is calm.

"uh-huh." A disappointed groan of words from a certain ax wielder.

"Is uh-huh a yes or a no Pinky?" I know she is hesitant, but she wouldn't have brought us here for no reason.

"Yes." Finally, a real answer.

I have never worked with the rebels before, but as long as they are just people I know I can handle them. That isn't something I get to say often.

"Sir" I address the man outloud. "We would love to take you up on your offer."

"In that case come with me." He stalked off into another room and we followed him through.

"If you find yourself enjoying it here, you are more than welcome to stay." He added it casually, but there was a note of desperation in his voice.

Over the Gradio, I hear a barely distinguishable sound come from Pinky.

"I'm too rebel to be a rebel"

Mars and I both heard it, I could practically feel her beaming.


	8. Chapter 8

The man leading our procession takes us through a winding labyrinth, the small bar we started out in was evidently not all the rebel base had to offer. As we walked we passed plenty of other soldiers, all of them wearing the rebel symbol. I can't help but wonder about that symbol, at first glance it appears as a circle with small dips in the side, but there is so much more to it than that. The image is based off of an extremely old legend, one that takes place long before the Clone Wars. It was called a _fleur-de-lis_ and it signified perfection and light, why the rebels would want to use such a symbol is obvious. An image so popular among royalty and good, but why they changed it is the question. This symbol reminds us all that there was a time when humanity existed only on a single planet, maybe that's why it was changed. People changed once they left it, and so they must change again if they are to survive the wrath of the empire.

"This is the mess hall, you will receive food here" Our guide, who had introduced himself as Captain Charles Wayne, was motioning toward a pair of swinging doors.

"Do they have cookies?" Who would've guessed that would be Pinky's first question?

"Of course!" he responded rather brightly.

"Yay!" Pinky exclaims it in a giddy voice. Sometimes it's hard to remember that she's violent, then you see the ax.

We walk along the corridors, sterile hospital white covers every wall of the facility, it seems both modern and unfriendly. Despite our wonderful tour guide I still have the unnerving sense that I don't belong here. The force seems to hum in agreement with me, almost like it's trying to tell me something. I can't become a rebel, I don't know why, but it just seems so…wrong. I look at my friends, Mars is wearing a guarded expression and looks around, wary of her surroundings. I watch Pinky, walking at the back of our little group, as she skulks. She hates it here, and so does Mars, if I told them we were leaving I have a feeling they would be glad. This place holds horrible memories for Pinky, and only uncertainty for Mars and me.

We need the favor this man is returning, but I will not allow him to do anything more for us. If he works to hard he will begin to expect something in return, then we would be the ones who owe him a favor. The only thing he would ever want is for us to join him, and I cannot allow that to happen. I have known my friends for only a day, but I know them well enough to understand them. Mars is tough and just, Pinky is strong and fierce, neither of them would do well in a place like this. There are too many rules here, too many expectations and laws. They don't want to be confined to one place, or even a single ideal. The world can't be only a matter of sides, a simple matter of black and white, there has to be a gray. I feel the force buzz within me, it alerts and calms me at the same time. It reminds me of a single important fact, that I am Gray.

I like to think of myself as good, but the acts I have been committing are not. Sure I ask for food and others give it to me, but it isn't like they really had a choice. I basically stole that food, the same way I stole holograms and other resources. I tried to return things, I didn't need all the dead weight, but sometimes I just sold them for money. That makes me no more than a common thief, well maybe not common, but still a thief. When I first set out on my own I was a lot like Mars and Pinky, I had a pack full of things and even a small dagger, but then I learned things. You don't need to carry things like jewelry or mementos, if you truly cared about that person then you will remember them. The bed roll I had was wonderful at night, but it sucked to have to carry around all day. My clothes and knife were soon all I had left, but over time I realized you can wash clothes quickly and easily. If I did need more I could simply ask someone, with a little mind control I could get literally anything I ever needed. On my first travels I also realized that it got me not only what I needed, but also anything I wanted. I had a lot of junk, but soon got rid of it. Trinkets never did anything useful, and if I was going to use the force for petty things like that I may as well not use it at all. I tried that, and nearly starved to death. My only belonging had been a knife, I sold it for food and that was the end of my weapon carrying days. I had to revert back to mind tricks for meals, but I never got a knife again. I thought being without a blade would mean I was defenseless, then again I had never used the knife before. You don't always need a weapon to be strong. I learned a lot about travelling in those days, and even more about people.

We turn down a hallway and stop before a door. It looks exactly like every single door we have passed today and is completely bare. Charles waits a moment and we step through the door, a small swishing sound echoes around the room we have just entered. The room is filled with racks of armor and weapons, blasters. I thought they would all be the pristine white that the halls were, but rather they were on odd mishmash of colors and styles. Sometimes I forget that rebels are poor too. We follow him as he walks forward into the room, his long strides carrying him swiftly and confidently.

"These are all men's armor, but in the next room there is women's clothing as well."

He comes to another door at the end of the room and it opens to admit him. I follow closely, his strides are long but I am still a couple inches taller than him and I am impatient with his slow pace. I don't know whether or not I should trust him yet, but right now I am more suspicious than anything. He owes a Jedi, I get that. But why us? Why not save the favor for someone else? I brush his mind lightly and pickup only trace feelings of serenity. He is happy to finally return his debt, but I sense that an ulterior motive is at work here.

"Here we are." Charles announces are arrival into the room, just as the little whishing sound of the door does. In here, just like in the other room, there are rows of mismatched armor and blasters. The only obvious difference between the two rooms is the breast plates.

"Take a look around, try stuff on. If there is anything you want, grab it. There are only about three hundred rebels, only twenty of which are women. So don't worry about wasting our resources." He says it good heartedly than walks back toward the door. He gives a wave good bye than makes an exit, the little whoosh of the door echoing behind him.

"Well I don't need anything." Mars is the first of us to speak. She has no need for new armor, hers is handcrafted and well made, not to mention barely two weeks old. I glance at Pinky as she walks up and down the racks looking for something.

"Where's the pink?" She mutters to herself casually as if she were at a market.

I look at my blue tunic and tannish under clothing, maybe I could do a little better, especially since I'm probably going to be fighting a lot more now. I follow Pinky through the racks as Mars stands in a corner sharpening her swords.

"PINK." She immediately rips off her horrible armor and put on a perfectly fitting chest plate. The color is pale pink with darker pink edging that matches her vivid hair color, the thing looks like it was tailored for her. She dropped her other armor on the floor and kicked it to the side as she pulled on yet another color coded item, a good pair of combat boots. She yelps when they fit her perfectly.

"Pinky, you have no chill." Mars slides her blade into her scabbard. Now she is examining a pair of black combat boots. She yanks off her own shoes and pulls them on, yet another great fit. She contents herself with lacing them as I finally pick up a piece of armor.

I have never, in my life, worn armor. I don't do a lot of fighting so I usually don't need it, but now I will. I pick up a blue chest plate and put it on. Its close fitting and protective of what I know to be my vital points. It's not constrictive and allows me free movement, a definite plus. The material isn't made of a sturdy metal like the ones Mars and Pinky have, it's a lighter alloy that has less strength but allows greater speed. It's a darker shade of blue towards the center but the trim is done in a much lighter shade. It's my perfect piece of armor. I also seize a set of knee armor, nothing that sticks out, just simple blue leather that covers my knees. This way I can support my knee a bit better, also if I do any slides or anything I'll be prepared. I pull on a pair of blue combat boots, oddly enough, another great fit.

"Finally you look like you could actually do something useful. Come at me brah!" Mars is looking at me approvingly now. I must look cooler in armor, maybe even like I could put up a fight.

"No way, she still looks weak" Pinky, she doesn't seem to think I look any tougher with armor on, but she gives me a grin anyway.

I look at her, decked out entirely in pink armor. Chest plate, boots, and arm guards; her vibro-ax hanging from her belt. Mars is in her usual red armor mixed here and there with black, her sword sticking out from behind her. Finally me, I am in a blue chest plate, knee guards, and boots; weaponless as always. We have armor now, Mars and Pinky have weapons and know how to use them, and we can all control at least one aspect of the force extremely well. We are finally ready.

"So what next?" Pinky questions, I know she doesn't trust the rebels, none of us do. In reality though we don't have much of a choice.

"We get off planet" Mars says it carefully, than switches abruptly to the mindspeak channel I've left open. "Then we go our own way."

"Pinky, how well do you know the rebels? Do you trust them?" I mindspeak to her and she looks hesitantly at me for a minute.

"I trust Bill." At our confused stares she elaborates, "the Twi'lek at the door, he was a family friend." We look at her warily, she's not telling us everything.

"Was?" Mars is looking closely at Pinky, searching for a certain response.

"My parents and sister died in a battle where he was the only survivor. He tried to save them, but it wasn't enough. He was a great friend, even brought back their ashes, but I still haven't really forgiven him."

"You said you trusted him with your life, did you mean that?" Her story is sad, but I need to know where her true loyalties lie.

"I do. He isn't allowed to do more than errands for the rebels now, but he still tries to help out in every way he can." I can respect her judgment, for now. If it comes to a life or death situation though, I will certainly Kill Bill.

We start to make our way to the door when a loud beep comes over an intercom. Red lights flash from the florescent bulbs above our heads, and a message plays over and over on a loop.

"THE EMPIRE IS HERE."


	9. Chapter 9

Weapons don't scare me. They may frighten and worry me, but they don't scare me. They are just tools, a means to an end. This however, is much different. The blasters that had leaned unthreateningly against the racks that held them moments before became bathed in the red light. The strobe lights glare flashed across the length of the harsh metal, the weapon looked deadly now. The message has stopped playing and the lights are back to their normal sterile florescent white. An eerie silence fills the room in the wake of the alarm. There is no evidence that the warning was ever even played.

"It's an intruder alarm" Pinky's voice is the first sound made in the absence of the alarm. Her voice is emotionless and cold, nothing like her usual self. Mars and I look over at her in concern, but she doesn't seem to notice and continues speaking.

"If an intruder attempts to enter the base then whoever is guarding the door activates the alarm. The alarm will send out a message to every area of the base and automatically stop as soon as the hatch that serves as an entrance to the bar is opened. This way everyone in the base is alerted to the intruder's presence, but the intruder thinks that we don't know that they are there. An intruder would probably be able to guess it was a rebel base and would assume that, because of the poor funding, there wasn't an alarm system." Pinky's usual speech is casual and light, the way she said this was too formal, too strict, to be her words. I usually don't associate her with the rebels but right now, hiding in this bunker that she got us into with her connections, it's hard to deny her alliance with them.

"Did you memorize that?" Mars's voice is steady but I can feel that she is just as shaken by Pinky's speech.

"Yeah, it's a standard rebel thing… I just remembered it." Pinky's voice is bright and a little absent-minded, back to normal. She acts like nothing has happened but both me and Mars are looking at her differently now. Pinky may hate the rebels, but she also knows a lot about them, perhaps more than just the daughter of a rebel should.

"Pinky you seem to know way too much about this place. Were you a rebel?" I had to ask, eventually all of us are going to have to come clean with each other if we plan on travelling together. Including me.

"I tried to when my parents did, but I was just…" She let her words hang in the air.

"You were just too rebel to be a rebel." I respond. Pinky smiles, I won't push the issue any further.

Suddenly the force thrummed deeply and slowly, I could feel it as it spread purposefully though me. It's not an urgent warning this time, if it was the scent would be sharper and the sound would be quicker. I grab my braid and let the force guide me through my own thoughts. If this isn't a warning, what is it trying to tell me? I watch, listen, feel, smell, and taste everything at once. It's strange, the way that the force enhances all the senses. I stay silent in this strange environment, utterly at peace. Darkness swirls with streaks of light across my vision, an unsettling bitterness spreads throughout my mouth in direct contrast with something that tastes overly sweet. What it's trying to tell me isn't to move and run, but to wait and be patient. I feel a shake at my shoulder, and I let go of the braid.

A few brief moments pass where I feel the sensation of falling, then I am swept up in the powerful current known as life. The process takes no more than a second, but that only reminds me of how short and fleeting life can be. I open my eyes and look straight into two perfect rings of red. The alarm is my first thought, but the color doesn't flash like it did before. I blink a few times and then it registers that I'm looking into the eyes of a friend. Mars, eyes as red as the planet for which she was named.

"You all right?" Pinky is standing above me looking concerned. That's weird, she's shorter than me. I look around and see that I am sitting cross legged on the floor, just like I was at the abandoned house. Why do I always end up on the floor when I use the force? Well at least it's better than face planting into a table like I did at Pinky's old house.

"I'm fine" I stand up quickly, I hate it when others worry about me.

"So let's get out of here and-" Mars starts to say something about leaving and I am about to cut her off and tell her about what I learned from the force, but she is interrupted by something else entirely.

The door opens suddenly and the little whoosh of the doors is barely heard over the sound of blaster fire. Stray shots fly into the room and I look towards my comrades. Pinky already has her ax in hand and the sound of metal on metal rings through the air as Mars slides her swords out of their sheaths. They start toward the door with me following quickly behind them. We pass through and the little whoosh lets us now that the door has closed behind us. The exit across the room that leads to the corridors of the rebel base is blocked by three troopers, and next to us stands a girl about our age. She doesn't look scared or worried about being trapped in a room with multiple storm troopers, instead she looks smug. The girl is tall with long sandy blonde hair, she is standing up straight and glaring at the troopers without the slightest bit of hesitation. She looks like she has done this a hundred times before, and maybe she has. Around her waist she has two holsters, one for each side, and blasters to accommodate them. On her leg she has yet another weapon strap with a third blaster, out of her left boot a dagger's hilt sticks out slightly. Her armor is light and strong, her clothing a worn purple.

She stands proudly in front of the troopers, I can tell she notices our presence but she doesn't seem to want to ask for help. From what I can tell she is trying to show off. She draws faster than anyone I have ever seen and shoots two troopers square in the chest, both are down instantly. However, before the girl can even aim at the other guy an ax flies across the room. A sickening thud resounds off the walls of the room as the ax buries itself into the skull of the troopers head, the helmet was in pieces and offered the already dead man no protection. He collapsed to the floor and everyone looked at Pinky. She shrugged and started to walk across the room to retrieve her ax but was stopped.

The girl looked at us sharply, she wasn't a Jedi but she did seem to a worthy opponent, just not to us. Pinky could have somersaulted over her and had her in a choke hold in seconds, Mars would've sliced her to ribbons, armor or not, and me? Well I could've dropped her with a single word. However, on normal standards she would probably be a decent adversary. She held a blaster aimed at Pinky's chest and seemed to think that she was in control here. Pinky won't move, she's smarter than that, if she moved the other girl would fire instantly. Mars can move fast, but not faster than a blaster can shoot. It's finally my turn to do something useful. First though, let's hear what purple girl here has to say.

"Don't move," She is calm, she has done this plenty of times before. How many people has she held at gunpoint? I scan her mind and am surprised to find so much resistance. Lots of people put up barriers in their mind, but those are usually only those with things to hide. I've met plenty of people in the black market that have done that, but I can break through those easily. There is only one type of person that would put up this many mental barriers.

"Bounty Hunter." The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them, she looks at me with suspicion.

"How do you know that?" She spits it out with annoyance, but under her stubborn exterior I know she is shaken.

"What do you want?" Mars says it steadily, but with a hint of worry. She is trying to stay calm, but the terror is evident in her voice. I can't deal with this anymore, I have friends now and this is my chance to protect them. They have both defended me, and now is the time to return the favor. Single words are more powerful, but I only need to control one person so phrases will be fine.

"Drop the blasters" I whisper it clearly and the guns clatter on the floor immediately. She looks in disbelief at her own hands. No doubt wondering what just happened. Mind control is a tricky thing, but not everything the mind does involves conscious thought. She didn't even know the guns left her hands until she heard them hit the floor.

"What are you doing here?" If I needed to I could just read her mind, but for now we can negotiate.

"Not really any of your business." She responds smartly. In the meantime Pinky goes to pick up her ax and begins to brandish it threateningly at the girl from across the room. Mars slides her blades into her sheathes, the sound cuts through the silent air. I am weaponless, yet somehow I am more threatening to her then the others. I don't relish the feeling, but I can't say I don't enjoy being the one in control for once.

I lightly probe the girls mind and look for only the most obvious and useful things, I have no desire to look into her past. She's been a bounty hunter for a while now, but she doesn't work for the rebels. She is an excellent pilot and has her own ship, she transports illegal cargo and doesn't mind leaving a trail of bodies along the way. She wants to help people but also enjoys a good fight. She enjoys travelling across the stars and simply wants to explore, and make a quick buck. All in all not too bad of a person, by my standards anyway. I think I know our way off this rock, and we can leave long before more troopers get here. If I can get her to give us a ride somewhere we won't have to deal with the rebels or the empire.

"We need a ride." I get a look of surprise from everyone in the room.

"Not my problem," The girl looks at me curiously.

"We need to get off planet now and if you help us out, maybe we'll let you live." Pinky's ax is at her neck in one fluid motion. The girl cracks a smile.

"Alright say I fly you, where do you want to go?" Finally, she's negotiating.

"As far as you can take us. Maybe if you need some help along the way my friends and I could offer our services to you for 10% on your next job." An easy deal, we help out on one of her jobs and we get some money and a free ride. She won't take it though, bounty hunters don't share well.

"Fair enough, but no cuts for any of you. Deal?" It's really not fair to negotiate with a mind reader, but since it's in my advantage I don't say anything. She accepts my terms with the exception of the cash, just as I expected.

"Deal." I nod to Pinky and she lowers her ax and hangs it from her belt happily, the blood from the trooper still dripping off the edge. I walk over to the girl and we shake on it.

"So…" Pinky's voice draws out as she hops from one foot to the other, easily amused. "What's your name?" The girl looks at her with confusion.

"I'm going to be your pilot and that's all you need to know." She says briskly.

"Pilot…Pie! I like Pie... but cookies are better!" Pinky careens out the door to the corridor, a little whoosh sound echoes when it opens.

"I'm food now?" She says in disbelief.

"We can spell it like the number." Mars suggests.

"3.141592653589793…" I start to say, but I stop cold when Mars glares at me.

"Not the…not numbers, I meant…dangit! Nevermind." Exasperated, Mars walks out after Pinky.

I share a look with the girl I just threatened to kill, and we both start laughing.


	10. Chapter 10

As my newly named friend and I passed through the doors a small whoosh sound lets us know it has closed behind us. When the door closed so did all of my worries about Pi, her mind was well protected from the common psychic but nothing is safe from me. The same impression of good will is the only thing I can pick up on quickly. I wonder why she had all those mental barriers put up in the first place, people only usually do that kind of thing if they had bad childhoods or are emotionally unstable. Neither of these outcomes are good, however her issues are her own and if I dig deeper into her mind it will hurt her so I'll leave it at that.

"Why are we following Pinky?" Mars glares at me as Pinky runs ahead of us.

"Is that her real name? I mean what kind of name is that?" Pi walks slightly behind us as we try to catch up with a certain crazy pink armor clad girl.

"Like you're one to talk." Pi gives a small smirk at my comment.

Pinky stops in front of a random door, knocks six times, and it opens. She stands at the door waiting for us. As we get closer to the door she loses her patience and walks in, by the time we get there the door whooshes and slams together in front of our face. I really hate these high tech doors, all they ever do is close on people. Frankly, they remind me of a smaller version of the stuff they have at grocery stores.

"Dangit. Let us in!" Mars yelled as she banged on the door. I walked in front of her and gave six knocks in quick succession, the door reopened. I shrugged at the stares that Pi and Mars gave me, am I only the one who counts things?

I see Pinky's friend Bill and the man from earlier, Captain Charles Wayne, just inside the room. The room is small and has a few small tables and chairs, in the corner sits a refrigerator with a microwave on top. A quick scan of the Captains mind lets me know that this is a break room, not that I couldn't have figured that out myself. I also pick up on a sense of accomplishment, an odd thing to feel considering we are supposed to be under warning.

"Hello there Gray, Mars, I see you have made a new friend." Charles looked at Pi with a look of disgust. She looked at him with a smug grin, apparently the triple blaster wielding Pi isn't the angel we all thought she was.

"Charles" I say it in way of greeting, but I can see the disappointment stretch across his face. Captain may have been his title during the clone wars but now it's only on honorary one, he knows it and so do I. Mind reading is great, you always know exactly how to annoy people.

"We need to bunker down and hide, if we wait it out everything will be fine." Pinky's buddy Bill addresses everyone in the room.

"I agree, the only way to keep you all safe is to stay in the bunker and"- I interrupted Charles

"No, we are leaving now." Everyone turned to look at me, but I don't mind the surprise on their faces. There is something about Charles and Bill's frame of mind that I don't trust, and there is no way I'm letting them keep us here.

"Why are you in such a rush?" Mars looks at me curiously. It's true that we aren't really in a hurry, but something just feels off about this.

The force suddenly blares in my head, a cacophony of sounds are now ringing inside my skull. Something is definitely wrong. The calming buzz of the force is gone and all I can hear is this annoyingly loud white noise. I can feel the sound as it takes over all my other senses, my eyes blur the room into blackness, the faint sterile smell of the compound disappears, the traces of beans for breakfast dissolve from my tongue, and the last thing I feel is my knees hitting the floor. I'm really glad I have that knee armor. I sense Bill's thoughts and listen in, all I hear from him is regret and worry, and it's obvious he has nothing to do with any of this. Charles, however, is a completely different story.

I drift past his active mind, weave my way through his subconscious, and listen to his memories. I watch as a republic trooper is about to be crushed by a walker, at the last second the flash of a blue light saber appears. Charles owes his life to a young Jedi in training by the name of Donavan and vows to repay him. The image shifts to a hologram message, an older version of the Jedi appears but he is carrying a red light saber. In the message he asks Charles to keep an eye out for Jedi and to send any forcelings his way. It all comes together, the youngling who saved Charles all those years ago went darkside. This Donavan guy became a Sith lord and what could make a Sith happier than a ship load of forcelings? It makes me sick to even think that this man who so recently offered us food and transport was going to put us in the hands of the empire to pay a debt.

The sound of the force quieted and nearly stilled, it never quite stops. One horrible line kept pounding through my head, the last thing I remember hearing before I left Charles mind. "Why do you think the armor fit?" I imagined him leading us to the armory to get new clothes and then every item of clothing fitting perfectly, the thought of that man setting up all those things in our sizes made me want to gag. The feelings of sickness didn't stop there though, I felt weak after spending time in Charles brain. I saw a flash of the world around me and before I crumpled to the floor I did two things. I looked at the two men and with a force fueled voice said "Stay," then over the Gradio I cried "Leave." I hope that will be enough to get my friends out of there because that was all I could do before I blacked out.

I woke up staring at the bed above me, apparently I was on the bottom of a bunk bed. I looked around and saw metal paneling, hanging wires, and Pinky sharpening her ax.

"Ow." I sat up slowly and carefully but still managed to bonk my head on the bunk above me.

"Hey Gray." She says it casually. Have I been knocked out so many times that this has become normal? Do I just black out and everyone goes, meh, no big deal?

"Where are"- I say it over the Gradio and she freaks out.

"The Gradio is working!" Pinky yelps excitedly.

"Oh good, we can talk to each other again!" Mars voice says coming from nowhere.

"Priorities, guys." Apparently my use as a radio is more important than my life.

"Oh, you're up? Cool. Hey, wait a second, does this mean you have to be awake for the Gradio to work?" Mars asks.

"I… I guess?" I never thought about that, but it makes sense.

"Haha, that means we won't be using it very often." Pinky comments.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask.

"Well, you get knocked out a lot." I looked at her as she beamed at me from the bunk across the room. I hate her sometimes.

"You suck, Pinky." She just laughed at me.

"How come Pi isn't on the Gradio?" Mars inquired.

She has a good point, I grabbed my braid and looked for Pi. I found her and could sense her, but when I opened the channel to accept her she didn't enter it like the others had. I could hear her thoughts and I could force her to do things, but for some reason she wasn't be able to listen and respond.

"That's weird, I can't get her to hear us at all. Maybe she's just not strong enough with the force to sense it." I explained.

"So only other Jedi can hear it? That means we won't be able to stay in touch with Pi over the Gradio." Mars reasoned.

"This could make things complicated." I thought about all the situations we have already got in and tried to imagine going through it all without the Gradio.

For some reason me and Pinky started making faces at each other across the room. While I was doing this I looked at the armor I had on, I knew deep down that there was nothing wrong with it, but I couldn't help but feel disturbed. Knowing that Charles had intentionally set up clothes in our sizes freaked me out, how did he know? How could anyone possibly know what colors we liked and what sizes we wore? I can't help but wonder if it all orchestrated by this Donavan guy. Pinky's latest face almost makes me fall off the bed laughing.

"Mars, can you at least tell me where we are? Pinky's not helping." I glare at Pinky as I say it. She sticks her tongue out at me than begins to sharpen her ax again.

"Oh this is Pi's ship, she calls it the Zodiac. I'm sure she would love to tell you all about it, come up to the cabin and she'll explain." I'm curious, so I get up and start to explore.

I thought I was going to get lost or something, but the ship isn't actually large enough to get lost on. It was spacious, but not exceedingly so. It had the room I was just in with four sets of bunk beds, a large cargo bay, a small dining or rec room, and a ladder to the bridge. When I got up the ladder I was surprised to see seats around a central console filled with buttons and levers. A viewing monitor seemed to spin all the way around the strange hexagonal navigation system. Sitting in a raised office spinny chair was Pi, she was clicking buttons and checking the monitor. The walls and ceiling were all made of glass, if you looked carefully you could even see some writing in dry erase marker on the walls. This is not at all what I had imagined when she said she was a pilot, I was thinking more along the line of steering wheels and small windows to space, not large central consoles surrounded by stars.

"So what do you think?" Mars came from behind the console.

"This amazing, I feel like I'm in the celestial spirit world." I was impressed, I had never looked at the universe from an angle quite like this.

"Welcome to the Zodiac." Pi turned around in her chair dramatically than walked over to me.

"This"-she continued-"is an E-9 explorer. It's a scout vessel made by the Loronar Corporation, made for a crew of four and four passengers. Fully equipped with a navigation system, shielding, two laser canons, and two escape pods." She looked around proudly.

"It's beautiful." I had no other words to express how amazing the bridge looked. Also I know next to nothing about ships, so it's not like I could judge it based on anything.

"So Pi, where are we going?" I'm passively curious, but she gives me a sinister smile in response.

"Oh, don't you remember? You guys get to help me out on a job." An impish grin plays across her face.

"What kind of job?" I don't know how powerful the four of us could be, but I'm guessing that between Pinky's brawn, Mars's strategy, Pi's random skill set, and my mind control there isn't too much that we can't handle.

"Saving a damsel in distress." I look at her to see if she's joking, but her expression is deadly serious.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I'm starting to wonder if it's some kind of code phrase.

"It means that some rich people can't find their daughter and are offering a generous reward for her safe return. After you guys help out with that I'll take you wherever you want." I watch as Pi leans over her monitor again and types some stuff in to the console.

I leave and head back down the ladder to Pinky, it won't be until tomorrow that we get there. It's funny to think but, today turned out to be a much better day than the last. Yesterday I met Pinky at the market, got attacked by droidekas with her and Mars, attacked by Mars, and slept in a stranger's house. Today I wandered around a rebel base, got new armor, betrayed by a man I had almost trusted with our lives, and met a crazy Pilot. The rest of the day I spent messing around in the rec room with Pinky. I have never had such easy access to information, using the ships holograms I could do practically anything. Pinky and I were so entranced by the technology that neither of us decided to ask about how Pi had gotten the ship. Since I wasn't in the mood to find out how many people she killed for this ship, I decided to just go along with it.


End file.
